Spookier Things Have Happened
by cheri1
Summary: 10Rose MulderScully XFiles Crossover. After landing in 1990's DC, The Doctor meets Mulder and Scully who end up helping him find Rose and bringing her back.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

"Mulder..."

Scully gasped when she felt something hit her on the top of her head. She looked up and let out an exasperated sigh when she noticed several pencils sticking out of the ceiling.

"I really wish you would stop doing this," she said, pointing up at them.

Mulder shrugged, as he sat in his desk chair.

"I'm bored," he said, shrugging.

"Well find something else to occupy your time that won't involve me getting brain damage," she retorted.

She reached up and starting pulling the pencils out of the ceiling while Mulder went back to his laptop.

Scully finished pulling all the pencils out of the ceiling. With an exasperated sigh, she threw them on the desk and started to sit down in her seat when she noticed Mulder staring at his laptop screen with an impish grin on his face. She stared at him for a moment before walking around the desk to see what he was looking at. Leaning over his shoulder, she started to read the text on the screen. She frowned and looked down at Mulder.

"Mulder what is this?" she asked.

"This…Scully is a website that is dedicated to uncovering things the governments of the world don't want you to know."

"Of course it is. How stupid of me," Scully muttered, rolling her eyes.

She sighed.

"Okay…what are the governments of the world covering up now?"

She looked skyward.

"And I have a feeling whatever the answer is will be our next assignment," she muttered under her breath.

"The Doctor."

Scully looked back down at Mulder.

"The Doctor? Doctor who?" she asked.

Mulder shrugged.

"That's all anyone knows him as. Just the Doctor."

"Okay…why is this Doctor so important that nations of the world would go to great lengths to prevent the public from knowing about him?"

"Well, for starters, the guy gets around."

"Really? Gets around where?"

"Around time."

Scully frowned.

"Come again?"

Mulder sighed and gave her a patronizing look.

"There have been sightings of the Doctor at different points in time almost back to the dawn of recorded history."

Scully stared at him.

"How can that be?"

Mulder shrugged.

"I don't know, but many cultures around the world have stories and myths about him, and he's been seen all over the world in almost any time period you can think of."

He frowned.

"Problem is, a lot of the surviving descriptions don't match up with other descriptions of the Doctor. Some cultures describe him as an old man, others as young. Some say he has blonde hair, others say he has brown hair. He has blue eyes, he has brown eyes. He's short, he's tall. Clothing descriptions differ from culture to culture. From what I can make out there's at least 9 or 10 different descriptions of the same person."

"Maybe it isn't one person. Maybe it's a group of people passing the title down through history like a secret society or something," Scully mused.

"I thought about that. But…"

He clicked on his mouse and brought up a drawing of a man with long brown, wavy hair who was dressed in Edwardian era clothes.

"This guy," Mulder said, pointing at the picture." Is a depiction of one of the Doctors. Now, if this is a secret society, and he's one of the ones who inherited the title, then he's definitely not from this world, Scully, because among the sightings of this particular Doctor is a man from Ancient Greece, and a woman living in London in 1967. That's quite a lifespan for one individual."

"I'll say," Scully said, nodding.

"And…it seems that the Doctor never travels alone. There are descriptions of men and women who travel with him. There have even been some sightings of the Doctor traveling with a weird metal dog that moves on its own and talks in a robotic English accent. And, these women and men also have been sighted centuries and millennia apart just like he has."

Scully shook her head.

"How you find these weird websites, Mulder, I'll never figure out."

Mulder gave her a smug smile.

"I know where to look."

Scully snorted.

"So," she said. "If no one can agree on one description for this man, how do you know these sightings are all connected?"

Mulder smiled and clicked his mouse.

"Because, Scully, there is one thing that remains the same through all these descriptions and stories; one thing that links them all together."

"And that is?"

"This!" Mulder said, giving the mouse a final click.

Scully frowned, as she stared at the picture of a blue box that looked like a phone booth.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It is a police public call box that was used in England about 40 years ago until they were discontinued."

Scully looked at him.

"And this British police call box thingy has turned up in ancient Greece?"

"Yup, and ancient Egypt, and ancient Rome, and the Aztec empire, and the French revolution, and the civil war, and London during the German blitz, and…"

"Okay, okay, I get the idea," Scully broke in. "So this…Doctor and his traveling companions travel around in this thing."

"Yup."

"A teeny weenie phone booth."

"Yup."

"All of them travel in this teeny weenie phone booth?"

"And it disappears too."

Scully's eyes widened.

"It does what?"

"Disappears. That's another thing the accounts all agree on. The Doctor appears out of nowhere and disappears in this call box. It just makes this weird wheezing sound, and it fades in and out of view."

"Mulder?"

"Huh?"

"How many times a day do the people who run this website drop acid?"

"It's the truth, Scully."

"Oh, Mulder, you don't know that."

"Yes, I do."

"How do you know?"

"I just know. My brain tells me so."

"Which one? The one upstairs that dreams up weird, far out crap that no one else on earth could think up, or the one downstairs that comes to attention whenever you pop in Slut Bangers V?"

"Hey, don't knock that movie. It's a classic!"

"Yeah, right, a classic," Scully muttered, rolling her eyes. "Anyway, I suppose you want to investigate all this."

"Don't you?"

"No, I'd rather sit here, and have pencils drop on my skull, quite frankly," she said. "That sounds a lot more fun to me than going on some wild goose chase chasing an imaginary man with no name."

"He's not imaginary," Mulder said indignantly.

"Really? How do you know?"

Mulder grinned.

"Because at this very moment, according to the DC residents who are logged onto the chat room on this site, there is a little blue police call box that's sitting right beside the Washington Monument."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

The Doctor opened his eyes and looked around his bedroom. Yawning, he sat up on the side of the bed, got his bearings, and, with a groan, got up. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, he walked over to his clothes and began to get dressed.

As he finished straightening his tie, he suddenly heard a faint clinking sound coming from the hallway. Frowning, he pocketed his sonic screwdriver and moved out into the hall. He paused a moment and listened. His eyes widened when he heard a door being slammed shut. He looked over to his right at the kitchen at the end of the hallway. His hand reached down inside his pocket and wrapped around the hilt of his sonic screwdriver, as he slowly walked towards the kitchen. As he got nearer, his eyes widened in shock when he suddenly saw Rose walk past the kitchen door.

"No, it can't be," he whispered to himself.

Letting go of the sonic screwdriver, he walked to the kitchen door and looked in at Rose making lunch.

"You can't be here," he murmured to himself.

Rose turned and paused when she spied the Doctor standing in the doorway.

"There you are," she said, smiling. "I thought you were gonna sleep all day."

"Rose."

"I'm making us lunch. Actually, it's more for me because I didn't know when you were gonna get up, but I was gonna go ahead and make you something for later. I guess I don't have to now."

She paused when she noticed tears streaming down the Doctor's face.

"Aw, come on, my cooking is not that bad," she deadpanned.

She frowned.

"What's wrong?" she asked, as she crossed over to him.

Her eyes widened when the Doctor seized her in a rough embrace and wept on her shoulder.

"Doctor? What's wrong? What's the matter?" Rose asked, confused.

"Oh Rassilon, how is it possible? How?" the Doctor said between sobs.

"How is what possible?" Rose asked.

The Doctor looked up at her and smiled, as he gently cupped her face with his hand.

"You! You being here with me now! It's not possible," he said.

Rose stared at him.

"Why is it not possible?" she asked.

"I lost you. I lost you when Pete took you to the other universe."

Rose frowned.

"Huh? My dad did what? What other dimension?"

"The other dimension. The alternate Earth."

Rose stared at him.

"You mean the time where we defeated Lumic?" she asked.

"No! Not that! It was when the Cybermen and Daleks…"

The Doctor paused and looked at her.

"Wait. You don't remember?"

"Um, I remember the Cybermen and I remember we killed them along with Lumic. But, I don't remember the Daleks being there too. When did that happen?"

The Doctor shook his head.

"What happened on our last outing?"

Rose frowned.

"What happened?"

"Yes, what was the last place we went to?"

"Um, London, 2012. The Olympics, you know? You carried the torch into the Olympic Stadium and lit the cauldron? Happened last night?"

The Doctor stared at her in disbelief.

"It did?"

"Yeah, we came back to the TARDIS. You said you were exhausted and needed to get some sleep. I said okay, and I went to my room and watched TV for awhile. Then I got up this morning, and when I checked on you, you were still asleep, so I went and made breakfast, went down to the game room for awhile and played my Playstation and then I came back up here to make lunch, and that's when you finally showed up."

"It was all a dream."

Rose frowned.

"Doctor?"

A relieved smile spread over the Doctor's face.

"It was all a dream!" he said, overjoyed. "The Cybermen and Daleks never invaded Earth."

"Doctor, are you sure you're okay?"

Her eyes widened, as the Doctor fell to his knees, weeping. She fell to the floor beside him.

"Doctor, what's going on? Why are you acting this way?" she said, frightened.

He threw his arms around her.

"I had a horrible nightmare last night, Rose. I dream that you were trapped in another dimension and I couldn't get to you. You were lost to me forever. Oh, Rassilon, thank you so much for letting it be a dream!"

He lowered his forehead to hers and sobbed in relief.

"I'm here, Doctor."

The Doctor pulled his head back and grinned at her through his tears.

"Yes, you are, and I'm never letting anyone or anything take you from my side. Not ever! I promise you that."

Rose smiled at him and put a hand to his cheek. Her smile widened, as she watched the Doctor put his hand against it, closed his eyes, and let out a long, contented sigh.

"Rose, my Rose," he murmured.

"My Doctor," Rose whispered.

The Doctor opened his eyes.

"Rose."

"Yes, Doctor?"

"There's something I have to say to you. Something you have to know. I have to tell you now, just in case something does happen, and I do lose…"

He shook his head.

"No, not gonna lose you. Not ever," he murmured to himself.

He stared at Rose who was giving him a confused look.

"Right," he said. "No more waiting. No more excuses. I'm gonna say it."

"Say what?" Rose asked.

The Doctor brought his face close to hers. He paused a moment breathing in her scent, as Rose stared at him expectantly. He took a deep breath readying himself to say the hardest thing he'd ever said in his life.

"Rose Tyler."

"Yes, Doctor?"

"I lo…"

The Doctor jerked awake when he heard an enormous banging echoing throughout the TARDIS. He looked around, and to his horror, saw that he was still in bed. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he looked towards his bedroom door willing himself to believe that what had happened hadn't been a dream.

"Rose?" he called. "What was that noise?"

He waited in desperation, hoping against hope that he would hear Rose answer back to him. His eyes closed in anguish when the only answer was another series of loud bangs echoing through the empty TARDIS. Cursing his mind for tormenting him and wishing he could have stayed asleep forever, he rose from the bed, as the loud bangs continued.

Walking into the console room, he sighed angrily when he saw the bangs were coming from someone pounding on his front door.

He glanced up at the TARDIS.

"Why have we landed? I didn't tell you to land! I wanted to stay in the vortex!" he bellowed at her.

The TARDIS said nothing.

Gritting his teeth, the Doctor stomped towards the door, as the pounding continued.

"Right, whoever you are, you're going to regret knocking on my door," he muttered. "You just caught me at a very bad time and I…"

He stopped short, and his eyes widened, as he heard a man yell through the door.

"Alright, Doctor! Open up. We know you're in there!"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The Doctor paused and stared at the door, as the pounding continued. 

"Doctor, open up!"

The Doctor raced over to his console. He checked the coordinates and looked up at the TARDIS. 

"Washington D.C., 1999. Why in the bloody hell did you bring me here?" he asked.

The TARDIS said nothing.

The doctor glared at the ceiling.

"I suppose you're gonna give me the silent treatment now. Well, fine, I'll sort this out on my own then."

An angry sigh escaped his lips, as the pounding continued.

"Open up, Doctor!" the man shouted through the door.

"Right, and the first thing I sort out is the wanker pounding on my door!" he muttered.

He started towards the door and stopped short when he noticed he was still in his pajamas.

"Um, maybe I better get changed. I probably won't be able to get my point across effectively if I'm still in my jim-jams."

He sighed, as the pounding grew more insistent.

"Whoever you are, you better be away from that door by the time I come back, because you've just opened up a gigantic can of Time Lord whoop-ass, and I'm not afraid to use it on you," he said, as he raced back up the stairs to his bedroom. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The man stopped pounding for a moment and turned to face the group of people behind him.

"He's not in there," he said to them.

"He has to be in there," another man said. "It's his time machine, isn't it?"

"Yeah, Barry, but that doesn't mean he's in it right now. He could be out exploring."

"Well, what do we do now?" Barry asked.

"I think we oughta try to pry open the door," a woman suggested.

"Yeah," Barry said, nodding. "Tom, pry open the door."

Tom looked at Barry. 

"With what? My bare hands?" he said, showing him his empty hands.

"Well, didn't you bring a crowbar?"

"No, Barry, I wanted to get over here as fast as I could. I really didn't have time to go out to the shed for a crowbar."

"So, what do we do?"

"Maybe we can hide nearby and wait for the Doctor to come back," the woman suggested.

Tom nodded. 

"Good thinking, Rebecca. Everyone find a hiding spot and…" 

His eyes widened when he heard the wailing of sirens. 

"Damn, it's the cops!" he yelled. "Everyone scatter!" 

They ran off in different directions, as the cops pulled up near the monument.

"You kids get outta here!" one cop yelled, as he got out of his car.

He paused and stared at the TARDIS, as the other cops got out of their cars.

"What the Hell is that thing?" he muttered to himself.

He looked around, as a brown car pulled up, and a man and a woman got out. 

"Who are you?" the cop asked, walking over to them. 

Mulder and Scully pulled out their badges and showed them to him.

"FBI," Mulder said. "We're here to investigate this um…blue box. You fellows can take off. We'll handle everything from here."

"Oh, really," the cop said, folding his arms over his chest. "And why would the feds be interested in a little blue box?"

Scully looked up at Mulder, as he searched for an answer.

"It's…something the feds have been tracking for a while now," Mulder said. "We have reason to believe that this box is a…threat to national security."

The cop raised his eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? Why?" he asked.

"Because…because…"

Mulder paused, as he tried to think of something.

"Well, go on," the cop said, smirking.

"We can't tell you because it's classified?" Mulder said, hesitantly.

He glanced at Scully, as she rolled her eyes.

The cop stared at him, unconvinced. 

Mulder sighed.

"Look, I don't have to tell you anything, okay? You're a cop, and I'm a federal agent. We outrank you. If I tell you to go, you go!" he said.

The cop glared at him.

"Come on, Joey," his partner said to him. "If mister high-and-mighty G-man and his partner want to handle this all alone, let them have it. Let's go get something to eat."

"Yeah, I'm hungry," another cop added. "I'd rather go find something where the feds aren't gonna be breathing down our necks and acting all superior. They're here. Let them handle it. If they get in trouble, it's their own damn fault."

Joey nodded.

"All right, fine. I'd rather spend my time busting a felon than stand here and call a tow truck to haul this phone booth away. It's all yours mister national security," he said, throwing his hands in the air.

With one last look at Mulder and Scully, Joey walked back to his car while the other cops got in their cars and shut the doors.

"That was really lame, Mulder," Scully said, as they watched the police cars pull away.

Mulder shrugged. 

"What was I gonna tell them? We're investigating a time traveler who travels through time in a police call box from the '60's? I couldn't think of a good reason to shoo them away." 

"So…you just told them you outranked them."

Mulder shrugged.

"Worked, didn't it?"

"Well, how do you know we can handle this without them, Mulder? Suppose this Doctor is dangerous."

Mulder shook his head.

"No, he seems to be peaceful, according to the accounts. If there is any evil around threatening the people he fights that, but otherwise, he's friendly towards the locals," he said.

"What if he perceives us as being evil?" Scully countered.

"We'll just convince him we're not."

"With what, your dazzling verbal skills and astounding ability to think on your feet?" she said

"Scully, sometimes I get the feeling you don't have that much confidence in me."

He grinned and poked her in the side, as Scully rolled her eyes.

They slowly advanced towards the TARDIS. Mulder looked down at Scully while she withdrew her gun and held it out in front of her.

"Um, Scully, call me crazy but if he sees you holding a gun wouldn't that cause him to perceive you as being evil?" Mulder asked.

"Mulder, with you around, I take no chances," she said.

Mulder shrugged and walked up to the TARDIS door. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Doctor let out a sigh of relief. He had come into the console room, ready for a fight. Instead, he was overjoyed to find that the pounding had stopped.

"Thank Rassilon, they've gone," he muttered to himself. "Good, now I can get this TARDIS back into the vortex where it belongs."

He started towards his console when the banging started up again.

"BLOODY HELL!" he screamed. 

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Mulder paused in mid knock.

"Did you hear that, Scully?" he asked, glancing at her.

"Yeah, sounds like someone inside just screamed out, bloody hell," she said.

Mulder grinned. 

"He's in there."

Scully looked at Mulder who was as happy as a kid on Christmas morning.

"At long last, I finally get to see this Doctor for myself," he said, raising his hand to knock again.

He and Scully jumped back, startled, as the door suddenly flew open.

"QUIT KNOCKING ON MY BLEEDING DOOR!" the man bellowed at them.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Mulder and Scully stared at the enraged Doctor, as he came out of the TARDIS and shut the door.

"Um, I'm sorry…Doctor. But, you see…"

"How come everyone knows my name around here?" the Doctor interrupted.

"Well," Mulder replied. "There's this web site that documents you, and where you've been, and what you've done."

"Uh huh, and does this website mention that I get very angry when people pound incessantly on my door?"

Mulder and Scully looked at each other.

"We only knocked a couple of times," Mulder said.

The Doctor raised his eyebrow.

"You weren't the one who was pounding on my door and screaming, "Open up Doctor, we know you're in there?""

"No, my partner and I just got here."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry. Some other moron must have been here before you then," he said, calming down.

He looked at Scully who was staring at him with an odd look on her face.

"What?" the Doctor asked, frowning.

"You're an alien?" she asked, incredulous

The Doctor stared at her and then looked at Mulder.

"What exactly is on this website you found?" he asked him.

Mulder shrugged.

"A lot of things. Eyewitness descriptions, supposed myths, and stories about you, and your deeds, drawings, and paintings."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows.

"Blimey, what you can't find on the web nowadays."

He narrowed his eyes.

"It's not run by Torchwood, is it?" he asked.

"Um…no…it's run by a group of kids. But they do talk about Torchwood a lot on there."

The Doctor rolled his eyes.

"Figures. Torchwood, the bane of my bloody existence," he muttered. "If it wasn't for them, I'd never have lost Rose in the first place."

He sighed, as Mulder and Scully glanced at each other.

"Anyway," he said, looking at them. "First things first…introductions. You apparently know me, but I don't know you."

"I'm Agent Mulder, and this is Agent Scully. We're with the FBI."

He held up his hands, as the Doctor's eyes widened in alarm.

"No, we're not here to arrest you. We just want to talk to you."

"Oh, okay, that's a relief. I do hate stepping out of my TARDIS and getting arrested on the spot. It annoys the hell outta me."

He smiled at them, as Mulder and Scully gave him an odd look.

"Anyway, now that that's out of the way, let's get back to your question," he said, looking at Scully. "Yes, I'm an alien."

He frowned when Scully let out a soft snort.

"What?" he asked her.

"You don't look like an alien," she said.

"How do you know what an alien looks like?" he challenged.

Mulder looked at her with a smirk on his face, as Scully thought that over.

"Because you look like a human being," she finally said "And reason tells me that there is no such thing as aliens."

"Puh, sod reasoning," the Doctor replied. "You don't know as much as you think you do."

"I've been trying to tell her that for years!" Mulder said, delighted.

Scully glared at him.

"So you believe?" The Doctor asked Mulder.

"Sure do," Mulder said, as Scully rolled her eyes. "I've seen definite proof that aliens exist."

"Really, where?"

"In our line of work. We're assigned to a division called the X-Files that investigates paranormal and extraterrestrial sightings."

The Doctor looked at Scully.

"And you are a part of this…X-Files as well?"

Scully nodded.

"You investigate paranormal and alien sightings, and you don't believe in it?" he asked, shocked.

Scully sighed.

"I was assigned to the X-Files six years ago to debunk Mulder's findings and try to explain what was going on through scientific reasoning. Since that time, I have found no definite proof that alien life forms exist, and until I see definite proof, I will continue to explain everything through logic."

The Doctor stared at her and then looked at Mulder.

"She's your partner?" he asked him.

"Yup."

"And you haven't gone insane, and strangled her yet?"

Mulder giggled, as Scully gave the Doctor a look of death.

"Nope, not yet," he said. "Once you get used to her, she really is quite charming. She just has a bad habit of passing out at inopportune moments, is all."

The Doctor frowned, as Scully rolled her eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, we were trapped in Antarctica last year after Scully got kidnapped and frozen as part of this experiment to mutate this alien virus into a life form. I managed to rescue her from this facility deep underground, which I later found out was the alien's space ship. Unfortunately, Scully passed out before she could see the ship take off, which pissed me off, since I'd spent the last five years trying to show her proof that aliens exist."

The Doctor looked at Scully.

"Is that right? Well, if you want proof aliens exist. I can give you definite proof right here and now," he said to her.

"Oh, bless you, Doctor!" Mulder said overjoyed. "Please, please, show Scully something that'll prove aliens really exist, so she'll get off my back about it."

The Doctor chuckled. He glanced at Scully.

"Ready to have your whole world turned on its ear?" he asked her.

Scully folded her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrow.

"Yeah, show me proof aliens really do exist," she challenged.

"All right."

He turned and gestured to his TARDIS.

"See this?" he asked her.

"Yeah, it's a phone booth," Scully replied.

"Ah, it may look like a phone booth, but just like me, looks can be deceiving." He said.

He opened the door a crack.

"Care to step inside my "phone booth?" he asked.

"Gee, you think we might all be able to fit in there?" Scully asked, sarcastically.

The Doctor grinned at her.

"Step inside, unless you're scared to see the truth."

Scully snorted. She walked over towards the Doctor who was staring at her with a big, knowing grin on his face.

"Okay," Scully said, folding her arms over her chest. "Floor me."

"You got it. Behold the interior of my magnificent TARDIS."

He threw open the doors and stepped back.

Mulder's eyes bulged out of his head, as he stared inside.

"Oh my God, this is beyond belief," he murmured.

He looked over at the Doctor.

"Can…can we go in?" he asked him.

The Doctor gestured inside.

"Be my guest," he said.

"Wow!" Mulder whispered in awe. "Geez, this is fantastic. I bet you can't explain this away with logic, huh, Scully….Scully? Scully?"

Mulder turned to look at his partner. He chuckled when he saw her bulging eyes and dropped jaw.

The Doctor and Mulder exchanged glances and smiled.

"I take it her skeptic days are over," he said to Mulder.

"This…this," Scully sputtered. "This has got to be an illusion."

Mulder looked at the Doctor.

"Somehow I doubt it," he said to him.

"Well, then, I guess the little lady requires more proof," the Doctor said, gleefully. "Follow me, and I'll show you what this baby can do."

Mulder's eyes lit up. He grabbed Scully's arm and gently shook her.

"Come on, Scully," he said to her.

Scully nodded dumbly and let Mulder pull her along into the TARDIS.

The Doctor let them pass, shut the door, and hurried over to the control panels.

"Hang on, Scully," he said, as he set some coordinates into his computer. "You're about to get an even bigger shock!"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"Wow!"

Mulder walked around in a circle trying to take in all the little details of the TARDIS's interior. He glanced over at Scully who looked almost catatonic, as she stared around in disbelief. Mulder grinned, as he stared at her.

"After all these years I've finally been vindicated," he said. "And, I have you to thank, Doctor."

The Doctor smiled, as he leaned against the railing ringing the console.

"No problem. I'm happy to help your partner see the light," he said.

He looked over at Scully.

"You okay, over there?" he asked her.

"I…I…just can't believe it," she murmured.

"She'll be okay after she gets over her shock," Mulder said.

The Doctor grinned when the TARDIS suddenly stopped.

"I have a feeling her shock is going to last awhile longer. We're here."

"Here?" Scully asked. "Where's here?"

The Doctor gave her a mischievous grin, as he walked past her.

"Follow me, and you shall see," he said.

Mulder put his arm around Scully's shoulder and gave it an affectionate squeeze, as they followed the Doctor towards the front door.

Reaching the front door, the Doctor turned and faced Mulder and Scully. He waited a moment, as a grin spread over his face and then, with a melodramatic flourish, he opened the door.

"I give you…Pandocarnesis Minor!" he said, stepping aside.

Mulder looked like a kid on Christmas morning, as he stared out the door. He and Scully slowly walked towards the door, as the Doctor gave them a triumphant grin. He chuckled to himself when he noticed Scully's dazed look. He waited until they had left the TARDIS before going out and locking the door behind him.

"So, anyway, this is Pandocarnesis Minor," he said.

He pointed up to a large blue-grey planet in the sky above them.

"And that," he continued "is Pandocarnesis Major. It's where most of the Molinarians live. This planet is more of a vacation spot. It's actually not a bad place to take a holiday. The food is greasy, but other than that, it's fabulous."

He pointed to a group of black and grey squid-like creatures walking nearby.

"And those are Molinarians," the Doctor explained. "They're a friendly race. The only problem is they have severe flatulence. They don't have a very keen sense of smell, which works for them, but for everyone else it's unpleasant."

He looked over at Scully.

"So what do you think?" he asked her.

"I…don't know what to think. This can't be real," she murmured.

The Doctor chuckled.

"Consider yourself lucky, Scully. Very few humans have ever been to the Andromeda galaxy."

"Is that where we are?" Mulder asked.

The Doctor nodded.

Scully's eyes widened.

"You mean we're not even in our own galaxy?" she said, stunned.

"Nope," the Doctor said, grinning. "We're just a hop, skip, and jump from the Milky Way galaxy."

He paused.

"Well…a hop, skip and jump for my TARDIS," he added.

He slapped his hands together.

"Well, I think we'll leave Pandocarnesis Minor for now. I have something else to show you. Another neat thing my TARDIS can do. So everyone inside."

Mulder looked down at Scully.

"You hanging in there, Scully?" he asked her.

"I think I'll be okay after a long rest, and a stiff drink."

Mulder chuckled. He put his hand on the small of her back, as they followed the Doctor into the TARDIS

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So, Doctor. How big is this ship anyway?" Mulder asked, after the TARDIS had gone back into the vortex.

The Doctor shrugged.

"Not sure. I'm 901 years old, and I still haven't explored all the rooms in here," he said.

Mulder and Scully's eyes widened.

"You're 901 years old?" Mulder said in disbelief.

"Yup."

Mulder and Scully stared at him.

"That's one hell of a face lift," Scully said.

The Doctor laughed.

"Actually, I've had 9 face lifts…literally."

He smiled when Mulder and Scully stared at him in confusion.

"Whenever I become fatally injured or ill and I'm on the verge of death, I literally regenerate into a whole new body."

Mulder's eyes widened.

"That's why people throughout history have conflicting descriptions of your appearance," he said.

"Um…yeah, I guess so," the Doctor said.

He paused.

"I really have to take a look at this website. No harm in finding out what others know about me," he said.

"Anyway," he continued. "I have two more regenerations left before my last life, and I actually die. But, until then, I will just change into a new body if something happens to this one."

"What about your…friends?" Mulder asked.

The Doctor frowned.

"Friends?"

"Yeah, the people who travel with you?"

"Oooooh, yes, well, I've had a lot of them over the years. Men, women, aliens---"

"Little robotic dogs," Mulder cut in.

The Doctor stared at him.

"Blimey, are you writing a book on me or something?"

Scully snorted.

"Frankly, Doctor, I wouldn't be surprised."

Mulder looked at her.

"Hey, you've recovered from your shock."

Scully shrugged.

"If I fainted, Mulder, I would never hear the end of it," she said. "I'm sure I'd be lying here on the floor of his space ship while you were throwing ice cold buckets of water in my face and screaming, "Get up, Scully, you're gonna miss this!""

Mulder and the Doctor chuckled.

"Yup, that's probably what I would do. I would go to any lengths to convince her that there are things beyond logic, and reasoning, and her medical training."

The Doctor raised his eyebrows.

"You're a doctor?" he asked her.

Scully nodded.

A thought came to the Doctor.

"Fantastic! I know another way I can convince her I'm an alien. Hang about, I'll be right back."

He ran through the back door of the console room, as Mulder and Scully looked at each other wondering what he was up to. In a few moments, the Doctor returned carrying a stethoscope.

"Good thing there's a med bay on board," he said.

He handed the stethoscope to Scully and unbuttoned his jacket and shirt.

"Okay, Doc," he said, exposing his bare chest. "Listen to my heartbeat."

Scully stared at him for a moment and then, shrugging, she put the stethoscope to his chest and listened quietly.

The Doctor smiled mischievously when he saw her frown in confusion.

"Eeeeeh, what's up, doc?" he said, imitating Bugs Bunny.

Scully ignored him and listened a moment more.

"There's something wrong with your heart. I'm getting all these erratic beats, and I can't figure out why."

"Oh, might have something to do with the fact I have two hearts," The Doctor said nonchalantly.

Scully's eyes bugged out of her head.

"You…what?"

"I have two hearts. Listen."

He put his hand over Scully's hand and guided the stethoscope to the left side of his chest, and then his right. Scully listened for a moment more and then straightened up and looked at him, dumbfounded.

"So, after hearing my two heartbeats, seeing the interior of my TARDIS, and going to a completely different planet in a completely different solar system; are you convinced of the existence of aliens?" he asked.

"I…I think so, Doctor. I think you've convinced me."

"YIPPEEEEE!!! HELL FINALLY FROZE OVER!" Mulder screamed, as he leapt into the air.

He paused and stared at Scully with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Um, sorry, just been waiting for you to say that for a long time," he said, as the Doctor chuckled.

"I gathered that, Mulder," Scully said, dryly.

The Doctor smiled when the TARDIS stopped.

"Well, here we are. Part two of what the TARDIS can do. Just go over to the door and prepare to be amazed again!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

The Doctor opened the TARDIS door and stepped back. Mulder and Scully looked out expecting to see some weird alien planet. Instead, they were shocked to see green grass. They looked up at the clear blue sky and looked back at the Doctor.

"What planet is this?" Mulder asked. "It looks a lot like Earth."

The Doctor nodded.

"Probably because it is," he said

He smiled when he watched Mulder's face droop.

"Oh, but let me finish," the Doctor said. "You see, this isn't just Earth. This is Earth. July 3rd, 1863."

Mulder and Scully looked at each other.

"You mean we went back in time?" Mulder asked.

"Yup, another neat trick my TARDIS can do," the Doctor said, proudly.

"But where in 1863 are we?" Scully asked.

The Doctor smiled.

"Gettysburg."

Mulder and Scully's eyes widened.

"And you said it was July 3rd?" Scully asked.

The Doctor nodded.

"Yup, 3rd day of the battle of Gettysburg, and it's about one o'clock in the afternoon, which means that General Pickett is about to start his infamous charge."

Suddenly, they heard the sound of cannon fire beyond the hill in front of them.

"And there they go," the Doctor said nonchalantly.

Mulder and Scully looked at each other as cannon fire, gunshot, and men's yells echoed over the hill. They looked back at the Doctor.

"Go on, take a look," he said, gesturing to the hill.

"Do you think that's wise?" Scully asked. "There's a battle going on."

The Doctor shrugged.

"I think you'll be okay, as long as you stay in the trees where they can't see you. They're too busy shooting each other to notice you anyway," he said.

Mulder and Scully looked at each other. They flinched, as cannon fire boomed over the hill.

"Want to?" Mulder asked her.

"I…I don't know, Mulder. I mean, it's a war."

Mulder shrugged.

"Yeah, and we've been in worse danger than that. C'mon, Scully, it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. We'll be witnessing history in the making."

Scully thought for a moment and then nodded hesitantly.

"Okay…but only for a moment. I don't want them to see us and start shooting."

Mulder nodded. He looked back at the Doctor.

"I'll be waiting right here beside the TARDIS," he said.

"You aren't coming?" Mulder asked.

The Doctor shook his head.

"Nah, I've seen enough death and killing to last a lifetime, frankly," he said. "I'll just wait here."

Mulder stared at the Doctor and noticed the haunted look that lingered for a moment in his eyes. He wondered just how much death and killing the Doctor had witnessed. He and Scully had seen their fair share, but then they weren't 901 years old. He made a note to talk to the Doctor and get to know him better. He seemed like such a fascinating, complex man. He nodded at him and then taking Scully's hand in his, they started up the hill, as the Doctor leaned against the TARDIS and watched them.

Mulder and Scully slowly walked up the hill wincing, as the cannon, and gunfire, and the screams of terror, and pain got louder. Mulder squeezed Scully's hand affectionately, as he noticed the fear in her eyes.

"We won't stay very long," he said, softly.

Scully nodded, as Mulder noticed her putting on the brave façade she wore when she didn't want people to know she was terrified. Scully glanced up at Mulder, and their eyes spoke a silent reassurance to each other. They walked on trying to ignore the sounds of war just over the hill.

At the top of the hill, they stopped and glanced through the trees at the scene before them. Mulder's stomach turned when he saw the carnage and brutality, droves of men falling one after the other, as they tried to cross from one side of the field to the other. Mulder shook his head at the waste of human life. He had read many books about the Civil War and had found it fascinating. But, it was one thing to read about it and quite another to witness it firsthand.

"Oh God, Mulder, this is terrible."

Mulder looked down at Scully who was staring at the scene with pure revulsion. He moved his hand up to her shoulder and pulled her close. Scully smiled up at him.

"I think I'm ready to go, Mulder. I've seen enough."

"Yeah, so have I."

They jumped, as a bullet ricocheted off a nearby tree.

"Yup, definitely had my fill of the Civil War," Mulder said.

He and Scully hurried down the hill.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After the Doctor got the TARDIS back in the vortex, he looked at Mulder and Scully who were standing near the console.

"So, home then?"

He smiled.

"Or would you like to go somewhere else?"

Mulder and Scully looked at each other.

"Well, I would love to personally. But I don't think Skinner would appreciate it if we just went gallivanting around time and space with an alien," Mulder said.

The Doctor frowned.

"Skinner?"

"The Assistant Director of the FBI. Our boss," Mulder explained.

The Doctor's mouth opened in a silent, "Oooooooh."

He grinned at them.

"You do realize we're in a time machine, right? Which means if you wanted to, you could travel with me for years and years, and I could take you back to the exact same time and place you were before, without your boss even being aware you were gone?" he said.

Mulder and Scully looked at each other.

"Well, would your other traveling companion or companions mind if we came along?" Scully asked.

The Doctor flinched.

"There are no other traveling companions right now," he said softly. "It's just me."

Mulder frowned.

"But I thought you always had someone with you. That's what all the accounts say."

He noticed the haunted look in the Doctor's eyes again.

"I…did have a…traveling companion. She's…"

Mulder and Scully frowned, as they watched the Doctor struggle to say the next word.

"gone," he finally got out.

Mulder wanted to ask more about this traveling companion, but decided against it, as he noticed the Doctor's eyes begin to mist over.

Then, the Doctor composed himself, and the haunted look was hidden beneath a wide grin.

"But seeing how there's currently an opening for a couple of adventurous travelers who wouldn't mind accompanying an old Time Lord across the universe seeing the sights and helping others in distress, it's yours if you want it."

"Really?" Mulder asked.

"Sure. Traveling through time and space is boring when you're by yourself. Besides, I like you, and I would be very honored to have you become my companions. So, how 'bout it? I'm sure what I have to offer is a lot better than boring FBI work or even this X-Files thing you do. So…are you in?"

Scully glanced up at Mulder and knew just by looking at him what his answer was. He looked back at the Doctor who was staring at her expectantly.

"How about it, Scully? I know there's been a lot to take in today, but I think you'll fit in just nicely once you get used to it. So, what do you think?"

Scully looked at him and then looked up at Mulder. She smiled at him, as he nodded.

"I go where Mulder goes, Doctor," she said.

Mulder grinned from ear to ear.

"Good answer," Mulder said to her.

The Doctor smiled, as he watched Mulder and Scully. The way they acted around each other. The affectionate glances that passed between them. The smiles they gave each other. He hadn't known them for very long, but they reminded him so much of the way he and Rose used to act. It was nice to know that there were others who had connected on the same level they had. He was happy they had decided to stay. He had missed the company of others since Rose had been taken away from him, and unlike Donna, Mulder and Scully had come on board of their own free will. He smiled, excited that once again he had some new friends that he could show the universe to. It was just the thing to fill the aching void in his heart.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Mulder's eyes widened in amazement, as he opened the TARDIS door and stepped into his apartment. After agreeing to travel with the Doctor, he had taken the TARDIS back to Scully's apartment and let her pack a few things she would need and now they were at his place. The police call box was setting right in his living room. Mulder shook his head. So much had happened today, it was too much for even him. But, he wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world. He looked back at the Doctor and Scully, as they emerged from the TARDIS and then he quickly went into his bedroom to pack.

The Doctor glanced around.

"Bit dark in here, isn't it?" he asked Scully.

"Mulder likes it that way."

The Doctor sniffed. He scrunched up his nose.

"What is that smell?" he muttered.

Scully sighed.

"It's coming from his aquarium. His fish died again," she said.

The Doctor looked over at the aquarium and saw several goldfish floating along the top of the water.

Scully shook her head, as she walked over to it.

"I don't know why you keep getting new fish, Mulder," she called out, as she picked up a net lying beside the tank. "You're never home to feed them properly."

"Did my fish die again?" Mulder called from the bedroom. "I asked Mrs. Stevenson down the hall to keep an eye on them."

"Well, apparently, she didn't do a very good job of it," Scully said, scooping out the fish with the net.

"Well, I guess it is a good thing they did die since I'm going to be gone now," he called out.

The Doctor smiled at that. He grinned and smacked his hands together when Mulder came out into the living room carrying a rucksack.

"Well, the vortex awaits. Let's get this show on the road," he said, going inside.

Mulder took Scully's hand and the two of them went inside the TARDIS and closed the door behind them.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After the Doctor showed them to their rooms, and Scully had settled down for a rest; Mulder decided to go back and talk to the Doctor. He walked into the console room and looked around when he noticed it was empty.

"Doctor?" he called out

"Yeah?"

Mulder looked over at the console when he heard the Doctor's voice coming from it. He walked up onto the walkway around it and looked down, as he saw the Doctor's feet sticking out underneath it.

The Doctor slid out and looked up at Mulder.

"What is it? Something wrong with your rooms?" he asked, concerned.

"Oh no, nothing like that. The room is great. I just figured you might want to talk. You said you wanted company."

"That I did," the Doctor said, pocketing his sonic screwdriver and getting up.

"What were you doing?" Mulder asked.

"Oh, just tinkering. My TARDIS is magnificent, but it's also very old. So, it needs the occasional fine tuning to keep it in tip top shape," he said, leaning against the railing.

Mulder cleared his throat.

"So, I just have to ask, what race are you exactly?" Mulder asked.

"I'm Gallifreyan. I'm also called a Time Lord. And this," he gestured to the ceiling. "Is a TARDIS. An acronym stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It's what Time Lords travel around in. Or rather, they used to travel around in them. I'm the last of my kind now."

Mulder looked at him.

"What happened to your people?" he asked.

The Doctor sighed.

"There was a war between my people and another race called the Daleks that was known as the Time War. I fought in it, and I managed to destroy the Dalek fleet, but unfortunately, I also destroyed my planet and my people in the process."

"God," Mulder said, stunned.

The Doctor nodded.

"That's horrible," Mulder said.

The Doctor nodded.

"Yes, I lost my whole family that day," he said sadly. "But I had no choice, the Daleks are a cruel, ruthless race, and if I hadn't stopped them, they would have eventually spread to other worlds and killed the populations there; including Earth."

Mulder nodded sympathetically.

"I know what it's like. Both Scully and I have lost loved ones, and there were a lot of times we almost lost our lives battling people who were trying to bring about the enslavement of the human race."

The Doctor looked at him, curious.

"Really? What kind of people?" he asked.

Mulder sighed.

"People in the government. Both in our government, and in other governments around the world who work with them. They are working with an alien race that is trying to take over humans, so they can colonize the planet and turn us into a slave race."

The Doctor frowned, as he thought.

"What do these aliens look like? Do you know?" he asked.

"Well, normally they look like black oil that will infect a person through the skin and go into his brain where they take the person over and control him. But, lately these government people have mutated it into an alien with grey skin, big black eyes, and long, sharp claws. Scully and I have been trying to uncover the truth for awhile now, and…"

"The Drox."

Mulder looked at him.

"Huh?"

"The Drox. I'm willing to bet it's the Drox," the Doctor said. "They're the only race I can think of that matches what you've just told me."

He looked at Mulder.

"And if it is the Drox, your governments would do well to keep as far away from them as they possibly can. They do exactly what you said. They infest the population of a planet, enslave their minds, and harvest their resources. Then, when they have completely stripped the planet of everything valuable, they leave the host body, return to their ships, and leave behind a planet filled with mindless vegetables. Your governments are fools to cooperate with them. They are bringing about their doom and the doom of everyone on planet Earth."

"That's why we're trying to stop them," Mulder said.

The Doctor paused for a moment in thought.

"Are these the same creatures you said you rescued Scully from?'

Mulder nodded.

"Yes, she had one of them in her body. That's how they grow them. They infect people, freeze the bodies, and take them to Antarctica. Cold seems to slow the growth of the creatures, and the government men are secretly working on a vaccine to protect themselves against the aliens when they begin colonization."

The Doctor shook his head.

"They are fools then," he muttered.

He looked at Mulder.

"How did Scully become infected?" he asked.

Mulder snorted.

"A bee," he said.

The Doctor frowned.

"A bee?"

"Yeah, that's how they are planning to spread the virus. They are growing corn crops that carry the virus in its pollen and specially bred bees carry the pollen on their bodies, and when they sting people, it infects them."

The Doctor's eyes widened.

"Blimey, I have to admit that's devilishly clever. I never would have thought of that, and I have thought of a lot of clever things," he said. "So, Scully became infected, and then what?"

Mulder sighed.

"Her breathing became erratic. She said she had a weird taste in the back of her throat and she started to faint, so I laid her on the floor outside my apartment and went to call the ambulance. When the ambulance came and loaded her in, I went around to the driver to ask where they were taking her, and the driver shot me in the head."

The Doctor's eyes widened.

"Blimey, I know paramedics are rushed for time when they're trying to get a patient to hospital, but I didn't realize they shoot you if you delay them with questions."

Mulder chuckled.

"Well, turns out it wasn't the real paramedics. They were part of the conspiracy. The real ambulance showed up a couple of minutes after they left."

"And took you to hospital instead."

Mulder nodded.

"The bullet just grazed my temple though. It wasn't serious."

"Well, that's a relief," the Doctor said. "So, they froze Scully and took her to Antarctica and put her in the Drox's ship?"

Mulder nodded.

"Yup, I have a contact that was with the government men, but he was betraying them and giving me information because he wanted to stop them. I ran into him while I was trying to contact this other person to get information. Unfortunately, he killed this guy to keep him from talking, and I got there in time to see him stuffing the guy in the trunk of his car."

"Blimey, I didn't realize the FBI was this exciting. I need to try my hand at it," the Doctor said.

Mulder chuckled.

"It has its moments," he said.

"So this contact of yours killed the guy you were going to meet with, and then what?"

"He invited me into his car, so I got in, and he told me where they had taken Scully and gave me the coordinates, and a weak version of the vaccine that they had developed. After that, he ended up blowing his driver's brains out while he sat in the front seat."

The Doctor's eyes bugged out of his head.

"Nice fella, your contact," he said.

"Yeah, his words to me after doing that was, "Trust no one, mister Mulder.""

"Wow, coming from him that's the bloody understatement of the year," The Doctor said, as Mulder chuckled.

"So, after you jumped in the shower and cleaned the man's brains off your body, you went to rescue Scully?"

Mulder chuckled.

"Yup, that's pretty much the way it happened," he said.

The Doctor thought.

"I never heard of the Drox burying themselves like that in the ground. Usually, when they find a planet they waste no time in taking it over. Do you know how long they'd been there?"

"Not sure, but Scully found some infected bone fragments that dated back to the ice age."

"Wow, why the long wait?"

Mulder shrugged.

"Maybe it's not the Drox," he said. "Maybe it's some other alien race."

"Could be. But, I know of most of the alien races in the universe, and the Drox come the closest to your description. Still, there could always be the possibility they are a race I have yet to come across. I just can't fathom why they would wait so long in the ground like that."

"Unless they were waiting for humans to become intelligent enough to control," Mulder suggested.

The Doctor nodded.

"That could be. Although, the Drox don't need the races they infect to possess much intelligence. Once they take over, they control the life form."

He paused, and then smiled.

"Listen, since we're standing here talking; would you like me to get you some tea?" he asked.

Mulder smiled.

"I'd like that," he said.

"Okay, you wait here and I'll fetch us some," he said.

Mulder nodded and watched, as the Doctor jumped down off the console platform and hurried away to fetch some tea.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"Here ya go," the Doctor said, as he brought in a tea tray. "I didn't know what you liked in your tea, so I just put some things on the tray."

Mulder nodded his thanks, as he picked up a spoon, put a couple of spoonfuls of sugar into his tea, and stirred it.

The Doctor took a sip of his tea and paused a moment to savor the flavor before swallowing.

"Perfect cuppa as usual," he said.

"It is really good," Mulder agreed.

The Doctor smiled his thanks, took another sip, and smiled.

"So, I guess you won't have to worry anymore about Scully being a skeptic?" he said.

Mulder grinned.

"Nope, I think she's finally been convinced once and for all," he said.

The Doctor swallowed some tea.

"So, are you and her…more than partners?" he asked.

Mulder took a sip of tea, as he thought about that.

"Well…I like to think we are," he finally said.

"Well, from what I've seen so far, it seems as though you have a deeper connection going on."

"Well, we've been through so much that she and I just rely on one another now; especially since we've gotten to the point where we really don't know who to trust except each other," Mulder said. "When she first came to the X-Files, I considered her an annoyance, and I resented her being around me questioning everything I did. Now I don't know what I'd do without her in my life."

"Sounds like love to me," the Doctor said.

Mulder swallowed some tea and nodded.

"I think she does want us to be more than friends. A few years ago, I wouldn't have thought that would be possible. There was one time when I told her that I loved her, and another time, I asked her to marry me, and I was being completely serious both times; but she kinda scoffed at me. I think she thought I was being my usual goofy self and didn't mean it; but the past couple of years things have changed."

"How so?" the Doctor asked.

"Well, the night the bee stung her, we were having an argument. She was trying to transfer to Salt Lake City because she thought she was holding me back when she wasn't. We took it out in the hallway and before we knew it we were in each other's arms and leaning into each other for a kiss, and…that's when she got stung by that infected bee."

"Well, I can see how she could have missed the bee then," the Doctor replied.

He winked at Mulder, and he chuckled.

"Yeah, we definitely were distracted that night," he said.

"So, did you ever get to finish what you started?" the Doctor asked.

"Nope, not yet; most of the time we're too busy running for our lives to do anything else."

"That's tragic. Well, you know, you could make up for lost time here on the TARDIS. I could keep this baby up in the vortex until you're done snogging her."

Mulder and the Doctor laughed.

"I'll definitely have to take you up on that, Doctor. I think we both could use a break anyway, after all we've been through."

"That bad, huh?" The Doctor asked, as he took a sip of tea.

"Doctor, in the 6 years we've known each other we've probably encountered about every supernatural and alien thing you can think of. We've investigated everything from clones, to aliens, to possessed dolls, to a half man, half fluke worm living in the sewers, to a man who could control people with his mind, to a man who lived off of people's livers. We've seen it all, and done it all."

"And it wasn't until little 'ol me came along that your partner finally believed in all this stuff?"

Mulder chuckled.

"Yup, pretty pathetic, huh?"

"I'll say. I've met people in the past who didn't believe in aliens; but Scully is one hard core skeptic. I feel honored now that I was the one who got through to her."

He thought for a moment.

"Hey," he said. "I keep forgetting to ask, but…are Scully and Mulder really your first names? Because if they are, they're pretty bizarre."

Mulder chuckled.

"No, those are our last names. We usually don't call each other by our first names."

"Why not?"

"Well, in my case, I can't stand my first name, and I've asked Scully never to use it, so she doesn't, and I've always called her Scully since I've met her, and it's just become habit now. It feels strange if I call her by her first name now since I've done it so long."

"What is her first name if you don't mind me asking?"

"It's Dana."

"Dana, that's pretty," the Doctor mused.

He looked at Mulder.

"What's yours?"

Mulder blanched.

"Um…I'd rather not say."

"Aw, come on, it can't be that bad. I've heard all sorts of weird names in my ten lifetimes."

Mulder looked at him.

"Promise you won't laugh?"

The Doctor frowned.

"Laugh? At your name?"

"Yes, you promise you won't laugh?"

"Um…yeah, I won't laugh, what is it?" the Doctor replied.

Mulder sighed.

"Fox," he said, rolling his eyes.

He waited for a response and frowned when he didn't hear anything from the Doctor. He turned his head and saw the Doctor biting his lip desperately trying to keep from laughing. Mulder rolled his eyes.

"Okay, you can laugh," he said.

The Doctor let out a roar of laughter.

"Oh, thank you, didn't think I'd be able to hold it in. Ooooh, mate, you poor devil, no wonder you don't want anyone calling you that. I feel so sorry for you. You must have had a rough time at school when you were young."

"That I did. I made my teachers call me Mulder, and my parents, and my family, and anyone else I knew. I just can't stand my name."

"I don't blame you. So, if it makes you that uncomfortable, I won't use it either."

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Mulder said, nodding his thanks.

"Now what about Scully? Which does she prefer?"

"I think she'd like it if you just call her Scully. She's used to it. Everyone around her uses it, except for her family."

"Fair enough," the Doctor said.

"Now what about you? What's your real name?" Mulder asked.

"The Doctor."

"Seriously…"

"I am serious. My name is the Doctor. At least that's what I want everyone to call me. I have a name, but I'd rather not tell anyone what it is. It's…complicated."

"So, you don't go by anything else?"

"Well, I sometimes use aliases like John Smith when I have to give someone a proper name. But, usually I just go by Doctor.

He smiled at Mulder.

"I know it's unfair of me not to tell you my real name when you were brave enough to tell me yours; but there's a reason, that I won't get into, about why I keep it secret. I hope you understand."

"No, that's fine. Doctor's fine with me. Just as long as you don't call me Fox."

The Doctor smiled.

"It's a deal," he said.

He thought for a moment.

"Hey, I have another question, if you don't mind, about Scully."

Mulder shrugged.

"Sure…go ahead."

"Is that Scully's natural hair color?"

Mulder stared at him.

"Huh?"

"Is Scully a natural ginger, or is that a dye job?"

"Um…as far as I know it's natural. Why?"

"I love it. It's exactly what I want for my hair," the Doctor said.

Mulder stared at him in confusion.

"Wha?" he asked.

The Doctor chuckled.

"I've had ten lives so far, and I've never been ginger. I've always wanted to be ginger, and Scully's hair color is exactly what I had in mind. It's very beautiful."

"That it is."

He looked at the Doctor's hair.

"If you want to be a red head, why don't you get your hair colored?"

The Doctor's eyes widened in horror.

"Pour chemicals into my fabulous hair on purpose? Are you crackers? I'd rather get impaled with a stick up the arse."

Mulder held up his hands.

"Okay, just a thought, Doctor."

He took a sip of his tea and swallowed.

"So…what about you? You have anyone you love? I heard you mentioning a Rose before? Is she your girlfriend?"

Mulder noticed the haunted look returning to the Doctor's eyes.

"If you don't want to say anything, I understand," he said quickly. "I don't want you to get upset."

The Doctor snorted.

"I've been upset for the last couple of months. It won't make much difference now," he said.

He smiled at Mulder.

"Rose…was my last companion. And, like Scully, she was a one in a million find. I've had a lot of companions over the years, but not one of them got as close to me as she did. There was just something about her that made me love her like I've never loved anyone else. She was my whole universe just like Scully is yours," he said.

Mulder smiled.

"Where is she?"

The Doctor swallowed hard.

"In another universe. She and I were fighting the Daleks, another race called Cybermen, and we managed to suck them all into this void between universes. Rose…"

The Doctor paused to compose himself.

"Rose was hanging on to this lever, and I was on the other side of the room and couldn't get to her. She lost her grip, and she started to be sucked in with the Daleks and Cybermen, but at the last moment, her father from the parallel universe, came through, got her, and took her to his dimension. Right after that, the gap between the universes closed, and Rose was stuck."

"Did you try to rescue her?" Mulder asked.

The Doctor shook his head.

"Why not?"

"It's impossible. If I tried opening another gap, it would collapse both this universe and the parallel one. I managed to find one gap after that, but it was too tiny to take the TARDIS through. I managed to send a projection through and tell her goodbye, but then the gap sealed and there's no way of getting it back open."

"Are you sure?" Mulder asked.

"Pretty sure."

"But you're not 100 percent sure?"

The Doctor looked at him.

"No, but I'm not willing to risk collapsing two worlds to get her back," the Doctor replied.

"Why not? I'd risk it for Scully."

The Doctor stared at him.

"You would risk the destruction of this universe and another one for Scully?" he asked.

"In a heartbeat. And, I know if Scully were here, she would say the same thing about me. When she was kidnapped and my contact gave me the coordinates and the vaccine to go find her, I packed a bag and went. I didn't question the coordinates. I didn't question if the vaccine was genuine. When I found out the coordinates were in Antarctica, I didn't bat an eye. The only thing that mattered was getting Scully back. When I saw she was frozen in ice, and it looked like she was dead, I didn't give up. I went and got a fire extinguisher, busted the ice, injected the serum into her and saved her life. On the way out of the space ship, she died on me and even though aliens were busting out of their human cocoons and threatening my life, I paused long enough to give her CPR and bring her back to life. When we were climbing up this air vent to get out, one of those aliens, or Drox, or whatever it was grabbed a hold of my leg and almost pulled me back down and killed me; and the one thought I had going through my head at that moment was I hoped Scully would make it out and get to safety. That's how much she means to me. Hell, if she was kidnapped and taken to Pluto or something, I would gladly hijack a shuttle and find some way to get out there to her. So, yes, Doctor if Scully was trapped in another dimension I would move Heaven and Hell to figure out a way to get her back, and I would gladly risk the universe in the process. Scully would do the same thing. There have been a couple of times I have gone missing, and Scully didn't rest until I was back home safe and sound. If it had been me in Antarctica, she also would have gone there in the blink of an eye. Now I know it's none of my business since I don't know this Rose, but if she means as much to you as Scully means to me, then I would stop at nothing to get her back because it's a rare thing to find someone you can connect with that deeply and you can call a true and devoted friend."

The Doctor smiled at him.

"You're right, Mulder. I would do anything for Rose as well."

"Well, go get her then."

The Doctor grinned.

"You want to risk collapsing two universes, then?"

"Hey, if I wanted to play it safe, I wouldn't have taken on the X-Files in the first place. I say, what the hell, I've had a good life; let's go get Rose."

"And Scully?"

"Scully would agree with me, and if she doesn't, I'll win her over with my usual charm."

"Why do I suddenly have an image in my head of Scully rolling her eyes at that?"

Mulder grinned.

"She would. But, in the end, she'd agree only because it's so much easier not to argue with me."

"Yeah, I'm picking up on that already, and I haven't known you that long."

He thought for a moment.

"Actually, Rose was good at doing that too. I usually caved in to her demands as well. When did I become such a pushover?"

He shook his head and smiled.

"Okay, you and Scully and I will put our heads together then and figure out a way to get Rose back without imploding two universes in the process. How's that sound?"

"Sounds good to me, Doctor; I love a challenge."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Mulder, have you finally gone off the deep end?"

Mulder sighed. He and Scully were sitting on a bed in one of the spare bedrooms.

"Scully, you oughta see the guy. He's heartbroken over losing this Rose. We should help him get her back."

"Mulder, has it ever occurred to you that maybe the Doctor knows what he's talking about when he says two universes might collapse if he tries to go get her? I haven't known the man very long, but I have a feeling he does know a bit more about time travel than you do."

"I went and got you when you were trapped in Antarctica," Mulder argued.

"Yes, but I wasn't trapped in Antarctica in another universe. I mean, Mulder, sometimes I really do question your sanity. You have done some reckless and irresponsible things before, but going on a quest with a 900-year-old alien that could involve collapsing two universes tops everything you have ever done. And, suppose we make it over to this other universe and get her? Will the Doctor be able to get us back? What if we get over to this other universe and end up getting trapped?"

"Now see, you're giving up before we even get started. Typical."

Scully threw her arms up.

"All I am doing, Mulder, is injecting some rationality into this whole crazy scheme of yours. You never think anything through. You just go off half-cocked into any situation, which is why you get into trouble all the time and need someone to rescue you. I mean, how long has it been since he lost her?"

"A couple of months ago."

"Okay, so why hasn't he tried to get her before now? Did you ever stop to think it's because he knows that there's a danger of destroying everything if he does? Now, why he's suddenly changed his mind and agreed to risk all our lives to find this Rose, I have no idea. All I know is I don't want to take an unnecessary risk and end up dead. It's risky enough traveling with him without going and looking for trouble."

"Well, then you're in the wrong place, Scully. Because if there's one thing I'm good at, it's finding trouble."

Mulder and Scully looked over and saw the Doctor leaning against the doorframe.

"Sorry to interrupt, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. You were yelling, Scully. I could hear your voice in the console room."

Scully blushed.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. I didn't realize I was being that loud."

He smiled warmly.

"Don't worry about it. Not the first loudmouth I've had in the TARDIS," he said. 

He cleared his throat. 

"I understand your concerns, Scully. But, Mulder didn't say anything that I haven't thought myself over the past few months. Yes, there is a risk that we could collapse two universes, but there are also ways to cross the void safely. My people knew how and used to do it all the time before Gallifrey was destroyed. In addition, other races knew methods of void crossing. There are a race of higher beings called the Eternals who know how to cross it safely. Unfortunately, after the Time War, they fled this reality, and no one knows where they went, otherwise we could go petition them to help us. There are also black holes that are gateways to other dimensions. However, the ones that are portals are extremely rare and very tricky to locate. So, those are a few of the ways to cross the void that comes to mind. There are others, I'm sure, but those are the most plausible ones."

"Then, why haven't you attempted any of these before?" Scully asked.

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck.

"Weeeell, like I said, most of them involve great risk and tons of patience. Vast chunks of my people's knowledge went with them when they died including how to cross voids. Now, they did write that information down in books, and it is conceivable that some of those books ended up off world somewhere. But, you are talking about the whole of the universe, and without a clue where one of the books might have gone, that's pretty much a lost cause. The Eternals…don't know where they went, and I have no idea how to contact them. Lost cause, there. That leaves the black holes and as I said, it's tricky to find the ones that are portals to other universes. Not to mention we could end up in a universe completely different from the one Rose is in, and as you mentioned earlier, become stuck there. So, you can understand my reluctance to try."

He sighed.

"The other reason is simply because I was afraid if I got Rose, I would be upsetting the balance of the universe in some way. Sometimes, people have a part to play in a drama that isn't known to us yet. It's hard to see the big picture and there are instances when I thought I was doing good and ended up making things worse because I didn't think things through properly. That is why my people vowed never to interfere in the universe, only to watch."

"So, why did you do the opposite?" Mulder asked.

The Doctor smiled.

"Because I couldn't sit back with the rest of them and see injustices happen, not when I had the power to do something about it. That's why I was considered a renegade among my people, but even someone like me can muck up history in the course of doing good. That's what frightens me about going after Rose. She was a very special girl, and I can see her being chosen by fate to do something monumental that would save lives and bring good to the universe. If that's the reason she's in the other universe now, then a part of me wants to leave her alone and go on my merry way."

He paused and stared off into space.

"But, there's another part of me that wants to see her again, and hear her voice, and feel her hand in mine, and say to hell with fate. It's tormented me since I lost her. I told her I couldn't see her ever again when I last spoke to her, but I also didn't tell her that there were these remote possibilities that I could reach her. I had mixed feelings as I do now, and I didn't want to get her hopes up and have her spend the rest of her life pining away, waiting for me to come. I would rather she didn't know and go about the business of living, than think there was a slim chance and hang all her hopes on that."

He looked at Mulder and Scully.

"The other reason I was reluctant is because up until now I haven't had anyone traveling with me. I'd rather not do something this monumental by myself. If we do this, it's gonna take the three of us working together in concert to achieve this. That's why I actually entertained the idea when Mulder brought it up."

"So, you are saying you're really gonna do this?" Scully asked, "You're gonna try to find a way to get back to Rose even if she's supposed to be in this other universe?"

"Yes, I want to. I want to at least find her and say goodbye properly, in person. Also, I have to finish what I was going to say to her before the gap closed on us."

"Is it that important to you?" Scully asked.

A wistful smile spread over the Doctor's face.

"Yes, it is."

Mulder and Scully glanced at each other when they noticed the faraway look had returned. He stared off quietly into space for a moment with a slight smile on his face before he realized where he was and snapped back to reality.

"I'm sorry," he said. "But, yes, I want to do this. At least, if I try and there is no way back, I will be able to finally put the past behind me for the last time and move on. Now, I won't lie to you. You are correct, Scully, about it being extremely dangerous. Not only that, but what we are about to do requires a lot of patience and a fair amount of luck. I don't know how good you are at handling danger, although I assume being FBI agents, you are well trained, but I wasn't kidding earlier. I am a trouble magnet. 90 percent of the time when I land somewhere, I end up running for my life, and that's on a good day. You have to be at the top of your game when you're with me, because you will be facing death at every turn. I've been hated, hunted, captured, tortured, brainwashed, enslaved, starved, beaten, shot, electrocuted, and killed. And, that's the short list. What I do is not for the faint of heart, and I would be telling you this even if we weren't trying to find Rose. This is my job, essentially, and those I ask to come with me need to know that because if you are here, I want it to be of your own free will and with full knowledge of the consequences. I do not sugarcoat anything. The universe is wonderful, beautiful, and fantastic, and there are parts of it that will astound you and leave you changed forever. But, there is a dark side to it, as well. There is evil, villains, and monsters. Out here, the bogeyman is not a child's fairy tale; it is a day-to-day occurrence. In addition to the things that will take your breath away, other things will leave your hair standing on end and make you run screaming from the room. I'm not saying any of this to scare you away, I'm just being brutally honest about the risks. I want more than anything for you to travel with me, but I can't allow you to roam around time and space with blinders on. It's not fair to you, or to me. So, after all that, do you still want to come with me, or should I change course and head back to DC? Your choice. I'm happy with any decision you make, because I want you both to make the decision that you are most comfortable with. That's all that matters to me in the end."

Mulder glanced at Scully.

"Whatever you decide, Mulder. You know I'm with you, 100 percent," she said.

Mulder nodded and took her hand.

"First off, thanks for being so honest about the risks, Doctor. It's nice to know you care about your traveling companions enough to warn them like this in advance."

"Well, I'm speaking from 901 years experience, you understand."

Mulder nodded.

"Seeing as how Scully is allowing me to make the decision for the both of us, I think she knows what I'm going to say and is comfortable with it. So, I feel confident speaking for both of us when I say that we want to travel with you, Doctor. We are no strangers to danger and certainly, we are no strangers to odd occurrences and monsters. Everything you have described going through, we either have gone through it or witnessed it firsthand. I, personally, think that what you are offering us is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and I would go through the depths of Hell to do this. And, if it's going to take awhile to find Rose, then at least, we'll be along to enjoy the ride."

"But, you do mean what you say about taking us back to the same point you picked us up at, so Skinner won't know we're gone?" Scully added.

"Ah, screw Skinner; baldy would jump at the chance to do this if he could."

Scully stared at him.

"Baldy? We're calling him baldy now?" she said, as Mulder snickered.

"Sure, we're a million light years away, he's never gonna know. I say, screw baldy, let's go through time, and space with the Doctor."

Scully gave Mulder a long hard stare.

"Uh, I'm beginning to wonder if I should return the favor and warn you of the dangers of being around Mulder too long, Doctor. The man isn't called Spooky for nothing."

"Shut up, Scully."

The Doctor chuckled.

"Spooky, eh? I like that, it suits you."

Mulder raised his eyebrows while Scully laughed.

"Okay, I don't know which way to take that comment, to be honest," he said. "But, all kidding aside, we are honored to be traveling with you."

"And I am honored to have you," the Doctor replied," nice to have friends in the TARDIS again. Even if we don't find a way back to Rose, I can at least show you the wonders of the universe."

"So, what do we do first then?" Scully asked.

The Doctor thought for a moment.

"I think we should start with the most plausible scenario. You guys up for a bit of black hole hunting?"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Mulder and Scully followed the Doctor back to the console room.

"So how do we find a black hole doorway?" Mulder asked.

"Well, I've been giving it some thought," the Doctor said. "I think we need to do a bit of research and I believe I know the place to go. There is a place on Andromeda that has the biggest bookstore in the universe. Has almost anything you can think of from three galaxies and then some. I've been there before and spent days wandering the aisles and perusing the books."

"Days?" Scully said. "It's that big?"

"Scully, he just said it houses books from three galaxies. I doubt it's gonna be a small corner bookshop," Mulder said.

"Right you are, Mulder. It's hundreds of miles long, in fact. It's basically a storehouse for the knowledge of the star systems around Andromeda and beyond."

"And how do you get around this hundreds of miles long building? Cars?" Scully said as the Doctor took the TARDIS into the vortex.

"If you like, or you can tell an attendant what you're interested in. They can pull up a list on a computer and if you select the books you want, they'll ring the attendant in the area the book's in and they send them up to the front via a large tube system in the ceiling. But there are some like me who just like to wander the aisles and lose myself in all the books and just select one on occasion and read. They have tables spaced out around the building and you can sit there or they have a central room that is sort of like a break room where you can go get something to eat and sit there and read. They also have a second level with beds if you want to stay the night and continue your search the next morning."

"Sounds fantastic," Mulder said. "I'm an avid reader myself."

"I wouldn't call the centerfolds in Playboy reading material, Mulder," Scully muttered.

The Doctor fought to keep from laughing when Mulder gave her a dirty look and Scully grinned and shrugged.

After they landed, they stepped out of the TARDIS and the Doctor pointed to a huge concrete building directly across the road from them. The building was so long, they couldn't see the end of it. Around the building were small houses and shops that were also made of concrete but they were dwarfed in comparison to the bookshop. They hurried across the street and entered the building. Mulder laughed when he opened the door and the same bell that's found in many shops on Earth tinkled and announced their arrival. The interior was also huge. The length was almost a hundred foot long and they saw row after row of bookshelves crammed with books. At the front was a small carpeted area with a wooden reception desk that had papers, in and out boxes and a computer on it. To the far left were several small vehicles that looked like golf carts with Perspex bubble tops. Above them ran a complicated series of Perspex pipes that were about two foot wide. Most of them ended in a single huge pipe that came down to the right of them and was positioned over a huge canvas bin. They could see a few people, human and alien, perusing the shelves closest to them but no one looked like staff. Mulder and Scully walked up to the desk and the Doctor saw a small black button next to the in and out boxes with a sign behind it that said, Push for service. The Doctor pushed it and Mulder and Scully reeled back when they heard a loud foghorn blaring above them. They waited patiently by the desk and then several minutes later a small dumpy man came out of an aisle off to their left. He was bald on top with snow white hair in back, snow white handlebar mustache and a double chin. He was wearing a white shirt with a bright red waistcoat that had a gold nametag on it. He had on black trousers and shoes. He walked over to the desk and sat down. He reached into the pocket of his waistcoat, pulled out a pair of spectacles that were folded up. He unfolded them, perched them on his nose and peered at the Doctor.

"Welcome to Universal Books, may I be of service?" he said with a slightly gruff voice.

"Yes, we're looking for any books you have on possible black hole gateways to other universes, star maps and things like that," the Doctor said.

The man nodded and typed on his keyboard while they waited.

"Now…" the man said as he paused in his typing. "Are you looking for actual gateways or just books talking about the gateways?"

"No, we need a book on actual gateways in the universe," the Doctor said to him.

The man nodded and resumed typing. He finished and hit the enter button. There was a moment where everyone waited and then the man peered at his screen intently.

"We have several books on possible locations of black hole gateways," he said to him. "Are you looking for a specific book?"

"No, just one that gives good directions to an actual black hole gateway," the Doctor said.

The man frowned.

"You're not thinking of traveling through one, are you?" he said.

"Me? Nah, we're just being curious little nerds," the Doctor replied as Mulder and Scully smiled and nodded.

"Very well, I have five books that match your criteria, do you want all of them?"

"Yes, but we want to take a look at them first before buying," the Doctor said.

"Certainly, Sir, would you like them brought here or do you want to go back to the shelf? Mind, the shelf is about ten miles back."

Mulder let out a low whistle while Scully's eyes bugged out. The Doctor scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"How about someone deliver them to the café? We'll look at them there," he said.

"Very well, Sir, let me print you out a guest pass for you and your friends and get you the key to one of our vehicles."

After he printed out the guest passes which resembled photoless ID tags that had their names printed on them. He handed them the key to the nearest vehicle, a receipt with the names of the books to give to the attendant in the café and a large map that would show them where to go. The Doctor, Mulder and Scully clipped the guest passes to the lapels of their jackets and walked over to the golf cart.

"I've been here several times before so I know where the café is," he said as they got inside.

The Doctor got behind the steering wheel. Scully got in beside him and Mulder climbed in the back. They closed the doors that were built into the bubble top and the Doctor started the motor. He backed out of the parking space and drove into a special lane that was only for the vehicles. The lanes were larger than the aisles, enough for two vehicles to pass each other safely. However, on either side of them were the bookcases and Mulder stared at them while they sped past. It took him about twenty minutes to get to the large concrete café. The Doctor pulled into a small car park beside it, parked their vehicle and everyone got out. When they went inside, they saw several vending machines at the back, a counter with a young woman standing behind it to their right and ten tables and chairs scattered around the room in front of them. There were also several red bean bags along the walls and at the back in the corner, a pipe similar to the one they saw up front was coming down through the ceiling of the café into another canvas bin. Beside it was a desk similar to the one at reception and a young black man sat at that one, typing something into his computer. He had a small afro, dark piercing eyes, an angular face and square jaw and he was wearing the same outfit the man at reception had on. The Doctor walked up to him and he stopped typing and took the receipt from him. He perused it, nodded and walked over to the bin. He reached into it and brought out five leather bound books with the titles in gold writing. He carried them over to the Doctor and he thanked the man when the man transferred the books to his arms. The man went back to his chair while the Doctor looked at Mulder and Scully.

"We'll get something to snack on and see what these books have to say," he said to them.

Mulder sipped some milk through a plastic straw. He didn't recognize what the beast was when he asked where the milk came from. The Doctor told him Darga and said it was like a cow but he had to admit the milk was delicious. He was also eating a darga meat burger that was just as tasty as any burger he'd ever had on Earth. Scully also had darga milk and ordered a salad of different colored greens along with some white crumbly cheese and a white salad dressing. Mulder had a bite of hers and Scully tried his burger and the salad was just as delicious as the burger. Mulder had to admit aliens were great cooks, at least the aliens who worked in the bookshop were.

The Doctor was eating a darga burger and drinking tea while the three of them looked through the books. At first Mulder and Scully were confused that the writing was in English until the Doctor explained the concept of the translator circuits to them. They ate quietly while they skimmed through the books. Occasionally, aliens and humans would come in, sit down and read while they ate but they never stayed very long while the Doctor and his new companions spent the better part of three hours studying the books and talking quietly amongst themselves. They hadn't found much so far, just a few vague references to what someone thought might be a possible gateway. The Doctor wanted something better than just a rumor though so they kept on looking.

Five hours went by and they decided to take a break. The Doctor showed them where a lavatory was, just outside and to the right of the café and when they came back, they ordered another couple of milks and a cup of tea before sitting back down with them.

"I told you that it was hard to track down possible locations of black hole gateways, which is why these books aren't saying with absolute certainty where one is. They're very rare which is why the books are being vague," the Doctor said.

"So, you're saying we should try another approach?" Scully said.

"At the moment, we might have to put the black hole gateway on the back burner, at least until we have something substantial. We'll just say it's a possible idea and leave it at that for the moment. I have a notepad and pen. I'll jot down a few of the more plausible candidates we found and that way we won't have to buy the books."

"What about the way you lost Rose before. Can you recreate that?" Mulder asked.

"Well, that's the difficult part. She was pulled through a crack in the fabric of reality and when I lost her all those cracks were sealed, except for one tiny one and I used that one to get a message through to her. I could try to open one but that's where the whole destroying two universes comes into play."

"There's no way to do it safely though?" Mulder said. "I'm not asking you to destroy universes, I'm just asking if you do it slow enough and carefully enough, could you make a gap you could go through?"

The Doctor sipped his tea while he thought about that.

"I suppose if I went really, really slow, I might be able to slowly open a crack without it causing any catastrophes. However, artificially made cracks are highly unstable and even if I could open one up without endangering our universe or Rose's, it might close up on us halfway across the void and we'd be trapped there, probably for the rest of our lives."

"You mentioned that your people used to cross these voids without any trouble," Scully said. "How?"

"Void crossers. Specially built devices that could open up cracks safely and keep them open long enough for a TARDIS to cross over."

"What about that? Can you build one?" Mulder asked.

"I don't know how. That knowledge was banned by the time I came along because some Time Lords began to use the void crossers for less than noble purposes, like committing crimes and then going into other universes to escape punishment. There were books written on how to build the devices but only those in power like the High Council had them."

"And they wouldn't have a copy here?" Scully said.

The Doctor thought about that.

"It's possible but highly unlikely. Still…"

He got up from his seat and walked back to the attendant.

"Yes, sir?" the attendant said.

"Could you find a book for me. Title of it is Manipulating the Void Safely: A Handbook on Void Travel."

The man entered the title into his computer and ran the search function. There was a few minutes waiting and then to the Doctor's astonishment, the man nodded.

"Yes, sir, we have that in stock."

Mulder and Scully shared a joyful glance while the Doctor felt like his hearts were about to stop beating.

"Could…could you have someone bring it here?" he stammered, trying to keep his hearts from racing with anticipation.

"Yes, sir, it'll be a moment but I'll tell someone to send the book here."

"Thank you," the Doctor said.

He turned and Mulder and Scully chuckled when they saw the ecstatic look on his face.

"I have a feeling this is going to be easier than we thought," Mulder said to Scully as the Doctor sat back down beside them and waited in anticipation for the book to be delivered to the café.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Once the Doctor got ahold of the book, he was beaming like a kid on Christmas morning. Mulder and Scully shared his happiness when he reverently carried the ancient leather bound book back to their table.

"The ancient wisdom of my people," the Doctor said in a hushed voice, "most of it kept hidden from the general population and here it is at last. I've been looking for this book ever since Gallifrey was destroyed. Thank you for suggesting I ask for it here."

Scully blushed and shyly told him you're welcome while Mulder patted her back. The Doctor opened it and both Mulder and Scully leaned in. They noticed that it was written in alien script and Mulder frowned.

"I thought you said your TARDIS translated everything," he said to him.

"It does, except for Gallifreyan. I asked her not to translate Gallifreyan just in case I needed to write or say something personal. It's a privacy thing," he said while they nodded in understanding. "Let's see…look at the index here and see if…aha! Here it is."

The Doctor turned the pages searching for the page numbers he needed. Mulder's heart lurched when he turned to it and they noticed that pages had been torn out of the book. The Doctor stared at the jagged edges of the torn pages in shock. His shock turned into anger and he breathed heavily through his nose trying to keep his temper in check.

"Wait, why would they sell people a damaged book?" Scully asked.

"They do buy old books if they have an interest in them," the Doctor said to her. "Obviously they had an interest in this book since it comes from a vanished civilization but either they didn't check the book for missing pages or they figured the value of the book outweighed the damage. Damn."

"Back to square one," Scully said sadly while the Doctor looked through the rest of the book.

The Doctor went through the book and stopped when he got to the back cover. Mulder and Scully noticed there was some writing on the inside back cover, however it was in English and they could see it was someone's name and address. The Doctor stared at the writing with barely contained anger but his anger faded slightly when Mulder suggested that the owner of the address might have the missing pages. The Doctor stared at the address which belonged to a Gibbon Bomma of the planet Telox in the Carrion Galaxy.

"I know Telox, it's a very hostile, war-like place," the Doctor said to them. "War has been going on and off for millennia with them and their neighbors. I also know they have been searching for the secret to time travel which may explain why this book ended up there."

"And let me guess," Mulder said. "The pages that tell you how to build this void crosser are the ones that are ripped out."

"Yup-ah," the Doctor said. "But he's left his address and as distasteful as it is that he's defaced and torn the pages out of a valuable book like this, we still have a way to find out who he is and if he has what we need. So if you're ready, we'll continue our search on Telox."

Mulder and Scully nodded. The Doctor walked back to the desk and paid for the book with his credit stick, telling Mulder and Scully as he did it that missing pages or not, the book still should be in his hands. After taking the cart back up to the front, they waved goodbye to the man at the front before heading back to the TARDIS.

Once inside the TARDIS, the Doctor programmed the address into the computer and they were off again.

"We need to be careful because Teloxians are suspicious of strangers, comes from years and years of unceasing war with their neighbors."

"You mean, we might get mistaken for spies," Scully said.

"Yeah, quite possibly," the Doctor said. "And they have very nasty ways of executing people which is why we need to stick together as much as possible. Hopefully, we can be on and off the planet in a short period of time after talking to this Gibbon."

"If he'll let you have the missing pages," Mulder said.

"He better let me have them," the Doctor said with steely eyes. "They're mine to begin with since this book belonged to my people. If he's thinking of building a void crosser to escape his little war torn planet, he better think again. I can help him relocate if he wants to leave but I'm not having him hop around universes, mucking things up."

"What about protection? Do we use guns?" Scully said.

"No," the Doctor said firmly. "We use our wits. We don't need guns. Besides, these people are so gun happy anyway that the moment they knew you had one they might arrest you then and there for being a spy or an agitator so it's best to appear unarmed. So if you are carrying guns, you better leave them here."

Mulder and Scully glanced at each other. They reached into their coats, pulled their guns out of their holsters and put them down on the jump seat.

"Good. Don't worry, I never carry a gun and I've lived for over 900 years. We'll find what we need when we need it. I just don't want to put you lot in danger, especially since Teloxians look for any excuse to kill people."

"Charming," Scully said. "Nice to know we're going somewhere where the locals are friendly."

"Yeah, but this isn't the first time we've been around hostile people," Mulder said.

"Yes, but I make it a point not to get around those hostile people on purpose if I can help it," Scully replied.

"Just relax. You both are seasoned FBI agents, I have faith you can take care of yourselves out there," the Doctor said. "I wouldn't have asked you to travel with me if I had doubts. Ah, here we go…" he said when the TARDIS powered down and shut off.

They walked to the door and went outside. They landed near a small town at night. The buildings were no more than three stories high and made of cement. The houses were two and three stories high and made of wood and brick. All buildings were rectangular without much ornamentation on the outside. The houses seemed to be mainly brown, black or white, nothing too fancy. To Mulder, it looked like a very boring small town as the three of them walked along the pavement. The Doctor kept glancing at the address he had copied onto a slip of paper and checking it against the numbers on the buildings around them. While they were looking, the Doctor stopped beside a large cement building to check the addresses. The building had a large picture window and when Mulder and Scully looked inside, they saw the interior of a bar with alien patrons sitting at the bar and at tables drinking. There was a TV mounted over the bar and from their vantage point they could see someone being dragged along by two reptilian guards dressed in tight blue leather outfits. The man was a human and he was dressed in what looked like white scrubs, his long brown hair whipping around him while he jerked his head and body back and forth in his attempt to escape his captors. Mulder, curious, walked into the bar.

"Mulder," Scully said.

She and the Doctor watched as he walked over to the bar and stood quietly in front of it, watching the footage on TV. The Doctor and Scully went inside and came up beside him, watching while the man was shoved into what looked like a large upside down Perspex test tube. The caption at the bottom of the screen indicated that the man was going to be executed.

"This is a televised execution?" Scully said to the Doctor.

"I told you, they're very brutal here," the Doctor said to her. "They take their executions very seriously."

"Yeah, but what's his crime?" Mulder said.

"Spy."

They looked at the bartender. He was tall thin dangerous looking man with a dueling scar down his left cheek and a blind left eye. His long black hair was pulled back in a ponytail and when he opened his mouth, they could see yellow teeth along with a few missing ones.

"He's a spy, caught him trying to steal secrets from the government offices," he said to Mulder. "Want a drink, mate?"

Mulder scanned the bottles of booze on the shelves behind him but didn't see anything he recognized. He politely declined before turning his attention back to the TV screen. Scully noticed him leering at her and she quickly averted his eyes when he chuckled. Then his eyes settled on the Doctor and they narrowed as he examined him. The Doctor didn't notice his scrutiny while he kept his eyes on the television screen. By now the man was inside the test tube and was slapping his hands on the sides frantically while he screamed out he wasn't a spy.

"Did he even get a trial?" Mulder asked.

"Um…yes, if you use a very loose definition of a trial," the Doctor replied.

They watched while the test tube began to fill up with water.

"They're gonna drown him?" Scully asked the Doctor.

"No, far worse, they're gonna boil him alive," the Doctor said grimly.

Mulder took Scully's hand when she reeled from that. She stared at the screen in silent shock while the man continued to pound on the sides. The water filled up to his neck and then stopped while the man begged for his life. Then nothing happened, except Mulder could tell the floor of the chamber was getting hot because the man kept lifting his feet and trying to tread water in the limited amount of water. Then slowly, they noticed the water beginning to bubble and the floor began to grow redder and redder. Scully finally turned away when the water began to fully boil and the man screamed in agony. The Doctor gave her a sympathetic look while she stepped outside to get away from it. A moment later, Mulder turned away and shook his head.

"Sickening," he said to him.

"I know but that's the way things are here," the Doctor said.

"Is he even guilty?" Mulder asked.

"Probably not," the Doctor said to him. "Paranoia is rampant here and anyone could be a target."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to delay us. We can go on now, I've seen enough," Mulder said.

The Doctor patted him on the shoulder. They headed out of the bar and stopped short when several men dressed in blue leather outfits similar to the guards stopped them.

"You!" one of them said, pointing to the Doctor. "You're under arrest for spying. You will come with us or we'll be forced to kill you right now."


End file.
